Main menu

Popcorn Time for Mac OS X

To download these tutorials for OFFLINE viewing or for archive purposes please (Click here to download)
(Clicking the “.zip” will open the Archive, un-zip the .mht files then use one of the plugins below to view them)

You can open .mht WebArchive files directly inside FireFox Or Google Chrome by installing a plugin

Popcorn Time for Mac OS X

With Popcorn Time for Mac OS X you can enjoy the large variety of both recent and classic movies as well as TV-shows on any newer Apple Mac. This includes iMac, iMac Retina 5K, MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, Mac Mini and Mac Pro. The basic requirement for any of these devices is that it’s running Mac OS X 10.7 or newer.

It’s easy to install but requires bypassing Gatekeeper; a native OS X feature to prevent accidental installation of potentially harmful software. Popcorn Time is generally considered safe to install so you shouldn’t be afraid of getting viruses, malware etc., especially not on a Mac (these things usually target Windows users).

Installing Popcorn Time on Mac OS X

To protect users from accidentally installing harmful apps on their Mac OS X computer, Apple has implemented a security measure that prevents unintentional installation of apps downloaded anywhere else than Apple’s own App Store. Since Popcorn Time for obvious reasons isn’t in there, Gatekeeper has to be bypassed if you want to install any of the Popcorn Time apps on your Mac.

If you double click the installer a dialogue box displaying the message Popcorn Time can’t be opened because it is from an unidentified developer pops up. This is Gatekeeper doing its job and the only option is to click OK and close the box without installing the program.

Fortunately, Gatekeeper isn’t meant to be ironclad and can both very easily and safely be bypassed. So in order to install Popcorn Time (or iOS installer) on your Mac this is the only way to do it.

Your Mac won’t let you install Popcorn Time because it’s from an unidentified developer.

The easiest way about it is to simply right-click (or control+click) the downloaded .dmg file and choose “open”. A dialogue box will ask the user to decide whether or no to install an app from an unidentified source and if you wish to proceed you must select “ok”. The app will install and behave like any other app and can thus easily be uninstalled by dragging it to the trash.

The first time you run the app you’ll see yet another dialogue box telling you that “Popcorn Time is an application downloaded from the internet. Are you sure you want to open it?” along with info regarding where and when it was downloaded. Click open to start the app and never see the box again.

Click open to start the app and never see this box again.

Permanently disabling Gatekeeper (not recommended)

Installation of apps from unidentified developers can be permanently enabled if you can’t bear the hassle of right-clicking every time you want to install something. You can do this by going to System Preferences – Security & Privacy – General and select “Anywhere” in “Allow applications downloaded from:”. You might have to unlock these options by clicking the padlock icon which enables change in this part of the system preferences.

The permanent solution should only be considered for experienced users as it opens up for accidental installation of possibly harmful apps (Popcorn Time is perfectly harmless).

Allow installation of apps downloaded from “anywhere” to get rid of the “unidentified developer” message permanently on you Mac OS X computer.